Sramana Mitra: All right and with this model, you have generated about a $100 million in affiliate commissions so far. Of which, about 70% of that has been paid-out to your partners?

David Sharpe: Technically, 100%. Last year, we did around $63 million in product sales. All of that, less processing fees, are given out as commissions.

Sramana Mitra: OK, interesting. What did it take from you and your co-founder operationally? What does it take for you to run this network?

David Sharpe: It takes a big team. Right now, we have around 50 full-time employees, including CEO, COO, and CTO. We have a large technology team, customer support team, compliance team, accounting team, and events team. The total is close to 50 employees. We’re pretty diverse. We’re deep in our staff.

Sramana Mitra: What has been your financing strategy? Is it all organic? Is it all bootstrapped or have you taken any financing outside?

David Sharpe: No, it’s all been bootstrapped. No financing externally. We just invest back into the business as we go.

Sramana Mitra: All right. Is there anything else interesting in the story of how you’ve built your business that you wanted to share?

David Sharpe: No, the only thing that sets us apart is we’ve created a culture. Like I said, we’ve put on events. Our goal is to leave somebody better off than we found them, whether they are a customer or affiliate. As much as it’s been really great to help people make money and to help people be successful through our products, it’s another thing to help somebody develop as a person. That’s why I go into a little bit of my history – what I’ve overcome and some of the things that I’ve been through. My real passion, as much as it may look like, is not sales. It’s personal development. Those two go hand in hand. If you’ve got sales people who are focused on developing and growing personally, then you’re going to have a much better sales person.

Sramana Mitra: Right. It’s really wonderful to see that you’ve been able to turn yourself around. I imagine that you’re having a lot more fun doing this than you did doing other kinds of stuff.

David Sharpe: Absolutely. This is beyond my wildest dreams, the people that I’ve met and the opportunities that I’ve had. It really is a life beyond my wildest dreams. I’m doing what I love.

Sramana Mitra: All right. It’s an interesting story and thank you for sharing it with us.

This segment is part 7 in the series : From The Seedy Underworld of Drugs and Prostitution To Entrepreneurial Success: David Sharpe's Journey with Empower Network 1234567